Dwyane Wade vs Kobe Bryant (The Twitter Debate)

Before I get into the whole premise of this article let me just first start off by saying that this is not to slander or discredit the knowledge of these basketball fans. In fact I would appreciate if you guys followed everyone of these people on Twitter. The whole point of this post is to help you guys better understand what it is I am referring to in my video up top. With that said, several weeks ago Court Vision asked the following question down below and you can clearly see my answers.

The question of top 5 shooting guards was on display in a public forum (Twitter). So my top 5 Consist of the following as you can see in my Tweet above.

1. Michael Jordan

2. Dwyane Wade

3.Kobe Bryant

4.Reggie Miller

5.George Gervin

@CourtVisionNBA Jordan,Wade,Kobe,Reggie Miller,Gervin
— Brendan Taylor (@ThatboyBTaylor) July 26, 2013

Minutes after posting my tweet answering the question many people attacked my list with a bunch of tweets about how Kobe is better then Dwyane Wade but gave me no concrete facts. After I stated that Wade is a more efficient player then Kobe, Court Vision even said that FG percentage isn't everything when it comes to determining how great a player is. He is right but it is certainly the foundation in which we judge how great a player, which is exactly the reason Michael Jordan is held in such a high regard 

@ThatboyBTaylor @NBAsNewsDaily FG% isn't everything my man.
— Court Vision (@CourtVisionNBA) July 26, 2013

While I continued to get many more tweets which lacked any kind of facts or logic to back up the opinion the Kobe is a better shooting guard than Dwyane Wade, I pulled an article from ESPN's John Hollinger which ranked the greatest NBA Finals performances ever. The article was basically a guide or reference if you will of how great certain players played on the games biggest stage. In the 2006 NBA Finals vs Dallas, Dwyane Wade put the Heat on his back from a 2-0 deficit to their 1^st ever NBA Title. His statistical averages were beyond crazy.

Dwyane Wade's 2006 Finals Statistics

34.7 PPG 7.8 Rebounds 3.8 Assists 46 FG% 33.8 PER (Highest In NBA Finals History)

So think about that for a second this guy is a 6'4 shooting guard and averaged 7.8 rebounds a game in the NBA Finals. He leads his team to a championship down 2-0 to a very good Dallas team lead by Dirk Nowitzki. To top it all off in the process of doing that he averages just under 35 points per game and collects the highest player efficiency rating at 33.8 in Finals history. Kobe Bryant NEVER played at that level on the biggest stage in basketball. To make matters worse Kobe Bryant isn't even in the top 10 all-time statistically as far as finals performances go, Wade has 2 top 10 performances (2006,2011).   

If you think Kobe Bryant is better then Dwade then you are probably a Laker fan or just uninformed here you go http://t.co/V5bo76k5jL. READ!
— Brendan Taylor (@ThatboyBTaylor) July 26, 2013

I then posed the challenge of to any Kobe/Laker fans to debate me on why Kobe is better then Wade using facts and it didn't happen.

This Tweet is directed at ALL my Laker/Kobe Followers...If Kobe is better then Wade give me just a few logical reasons why and back it up
— Brendan Taylor (@ThatboyBTaylor) July 26, 2013

One of the funnier responses basically said Kobe was better than Wade based solely on the fact that he gets comparisons to Michael Jordan and Dwyane Wade doesn’t. That’s because Kobe plays offense like him to a degree. Kobe has never been a shutdown defender and most likely will never win defensive player of the year. The premise of that statement is nonsense.

@ThatboyBTaylor @CourtVisionNBA Kobe is no MJ but he at least gets comparisons.
— SportsFeedDaily (@SportsFeedDaily) July 26, 2013

So after that I was tweeted a picture placing Wade and Kobe's accomplishments next to each other. Keep in mind that Kobe has played in the league 7 seasons longer then Wade and the accolades were still close (which was sad by the way). Wade has done more in his 10 years then Kobe has in 17, its about number of seasons not accolades. Again this comes back to efficiency and in terms of making all-star teams and the playoffs in that department Wade is more efficient than Kobe as All NBA Talk says down below.

@CourtVisionNBA @thatboybtaylor Wade missed playoffs/all stars 1x, Kobe did twice. Both missed all NBA team 2x. Gotta think abt # of seasons
— All NBA Talk (@OnlyNBATalk) July 26, 2013

A new Kobe supporter decided to join the conversation and asked if I was serious about my pick of Wade over Kobe Bryant, of course I told him yes and backed it up with facts as you can see down below.

@NBAsNewsDaily @CourtVisionNBA Wades better on defense, oiffense and you can't sit here and tell me that he isn't a winner because he has 3
— Brendan Taylor (@ThatboyBTaylor) July 26, 2013

@NBAsNewsDaily @CourtVisionNBA rings and at 31 years old shot the highest % of his career at 52% at 31 years old your boy Kobe shot 45%
— Brendan Taylor (@ThatboyBTaylor) July 26, 2013

Real acknowledges real as you can see down in he tweet below!

@ThatboyBTaylor @courtvisionnba @nbasnewsdaily this dude is speaking with all facts! Efficiency makes players great!
— All NBA Talk (@OnlyNBATalk) July 26, 2013

In a very empty statement I get another opinion on from what I think is Kobe supporter.

@ThatboyBTaylor I've been watching basketball as long as you've been alive Wade is great but he's just not in Kobe's class, no knock on wade
— rellimsportingview (@rellimsportview) July 26, 2013

One last opinion based statement.

@rellimsportview I'm not getting any reasons though besides your opinion and an opinion without facts is just words
— Brendan Taylor (@ThatboyBTaylor) July 26, 2013

Had to let my followers know its love and that I love talking basketball with them at the end of the day.

Just wanted to let all my followers know that regardless of what I say to you I love talking hoopswith you guys #Salute
— Brendan Taylor (@ThatboyBTaylor) July 26, 2013

I know many would beg to differ on my opinion on the NBA's top 5 shooting guards but I feel like Wade is better then Kobe. He has accomplished as much in a decade as Kobe has in 17 seasons and has been more efficient as far as shot made along with displaying a better shot selection. As a basketball player you need to have a great since of self and stay within yourself while not trying to do that. Wade does that, Kobe doesn’t which explains why he is a more efficient player than Bryant. If you disagree with me feel free to tweet me @Thatboybtaylor or @Truschoolsports.

Who Is The Best International-Born Player In The NBA Today?

Each year, the NBA is seeing more and more players that were born outside of the United States enter the league. Like any other group of players, these players have some duds (Darko Milicic, Hasheem Thabeet, Yi Jianlian, etc), but there have been a ton of standouts as well.

I'm going to take a look at the top 5 international born players heading into the 2013-2014 season. Keep in mind that I will be basing this on their current abilities, not their whole careers, as that would change the conversation completely. 

Honorable Mentions: 

Ricky Rubio- The Spanish-born point guard took the league by storm when he entered in 2011, dazzling everyone with his insane passing skills. He hasn't played quite enough to crack the top 5, however.

Nikola Pekovic- Born in Montenegro, Rubio's teammate in Minnesota was a highly sought after restricted free agent this offseason. He is a great all-around center, but has only seen full time starter's minutes for a year and a half, and he's also had limited playing time next to Kevin Love, so I will have to see how those 2 play together before I can put Pek in my top 5. 

Dirk Nowitzki- This omission from the list may surprise many, but it really shouldn't. The German-born big man is 35 years old headed into this season, and although he may be the most talented internationally-born player of all-time, you just can't expect him to produce at the level he has in the past. 

Nicolas Batum- This up-and-coming French-born wing for the Portland Trail Blazers is only 24, and has started each of his 5 years in the NBA. He is developing every year as well, but he just doesn't have one skill that stands out above the others, so it's hard to find a spot for him in the top 5. 

Marcin Gortat- "The Polish Hammer" has found a way to develop into one of the best centers in the NBA, albeit on a lackluster Phoenix Suns team. He has proved that with more minutes, he can continue his improvement, but with the selection of Alex Len in this year's draft, I think his minutes could see a little bit of a dip as the Suns look towards their future. 

5. Al Horford

The Atlanta Hawks big man, who was born in the Dominican Republic, has made a name for himself after being drafted number 3 overall in 2007. After a stellar career at the University of Florida, expectations were high, and he certainly has not disappointed. 

In his first season, he nearly averaged a double-double, and since then, it's been all uphill. Even though he has spent most of his career playing out of position (he plays center, but is a natural power forward), he had his best season this past year, putting up 17.4 points and grabbing 10.2 rebounds per game, and given the team that Atlanta has surrounded him with this year, he may be expected to put more of the weight on his shoulders. 

I expect the 27 year old Horford to be able to take the added responsibilities and run with them. 

4. Tim Duncan

If you would ask a casual NBA fan, they probably wouldn't have known that Tim Duncan was not born in the United States. He was actually born in the US Virgin Islands, and didn't come to the United States until he had committed to play for Wake Forest. 

We all know what happened after that; Duncan went on to become potentially the greatest power forward of all time, and has pulled in 4 NBA Championships with Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs. 

He really has not lost a step, even though he is 37 years old. That could be because of how Pop handles his minutes, and because of that reason (the fact that he'll play 30 minutes or less per game this year), prevents me from putting him any higher. 

3. Marc Gasol

I'm guessing that you didn't expect the Spanish-born Defensive Player of the Year to be anywhere but number 1 on the list of international-born players. I love Gasol's game, so don't take it as a disrespect to his game at all, you'll just have to see the rest of the list to see my reasoning. 

Back to his game, Gasol is potentially the most well-rounded center in the NBA, like I previously mentioned, he won Defensive Player of the Year this past year, and showed a variety of post moves on his way to averaging 14 points per game next to Zach Randolph. He fits perfectly on the Grizzlies, as their team is all about defense, with two of the best perimeter defenders in the league in Mike Conley and Tony Allen, as well as Gasol and Randolph down low, and the long-armed Tayshaun Prince on the wing. 

Since this will be the first full year without without Rudy Gay, I expect Gasol's offensive numbers to creep up a little bit, and he'll make the Grizz a team to watch out for. 

2. Tony Parker

Since being drafted from France in 2001, Parker has really developed and made himself into one of the NBA's top point guards. He is great a getting to the hoop, he has shown an improved ability to shoot from 3, and he is also one of the best assist men in the league. 

As with the last couple years, it is probably going to fall on him to pick up the load that Tim Duncan, and especially Manu Ginobili just can't do anymore because of their increased age, as well as decreased playing time. With role players like Danny Green, Gary Neal, the recently acquired Marco Belinelli, and fellow starters Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter, there is plenty of other talent that should make this year a little bit easier on Parker than it has been in past years, and he also might see his minutes decrease a little bit. 

1. Kyrie Irving

Here's another player that many casual fans wouldn't know that he wasn't born in America. The young point guard was actually born in Australia, but then moved to the United States when he was two years old; although he is a dual citizen still. 

With the knowledge that he is internationally-born, he definitely takes home the prize of being the best international player headed into next season. After just 110 games, he has already forced himself into the conversation of best point guards, and is a legitimate threat to hit superstar status this season. 

He has one of the most complete offensive games that you will ever see in a 21-year old, scoring 22.5 points per game this past season, and also picking up nearly 6 assists. The Cavaliers continue to add solid talent around him, picking Anthony Bennett in this year's draft, as well as Dion Waiters last year, and Tristan Thompson in the same draft as Irving. All of these moves have been done to ensure that Irving has a good supporting cast, and now that it is clear that he does (especially with the intelligent pick-up of Andrew Bynum), he should be ready to breakout this year. 

I want to thank Brendan Taylor and everyone at Tru School Sports for the opportunity to write a guest column for them, it's truly an honor to do some work for a great up and coming blog like Tru School.

I actually run my own NBA website called theleaguenews.com where you can find the latest NBA news, as well as a ton of other interesting topics. Brendan will be writing a guest column over there, so when you all check that out, take a look at the rest of the site, hopefully you'll like what you see!

Thanks for reading.  

Playoff Time 2013: Dwyane Wade

As the Playoffs are set to begin in the next few days the Miami Heat will enter the playoffs as the Number one seed with the a huge target on their back. During the regular season they made a lot of things look easy and had an impressive span of basketball reeling off 27 straight wins for one of the NBA’s longest winning streaks in history. This was due in large part to Dwyane Wade figuring out, accepting and executing his role on this Heat team to the Highest level possible.

Before  The Big 3 was formed Miami was  “Wade County” It was his team and the offense ran through him, there was no such thing as “too many” touches or “too many” shots. When Lebron James and Chris Bosh Came to the Magic City  the Heat were expected to click right away but that’s not how basketball works. Lebron&Wade struggled to figure out how to work within the flow of the offense and that Cost them a Championship in the 2011 Finals vs Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks.

Fresh off a championship this season we have seen Dwyane Wade settle into his role as the 2^nd option on the team to Lebron James as well as him relinquishing the team to James. Wade has stated several times “This is Lebron’s team” but it seems like this year he has accepted that fact and grew more comfortable with his role on the team. At 31 years of age Wade has been pacing himself playing only 66 games and resting  more often this year. He also is playing at a much more controlled pace you don’t see him play like “Flash” Anymore exploding to the rim with no regard for human life in conjunction with contorting his body while in the air. We have seen Dwyane limit the falls and stay healthier and that’s the main thing for him at this point of his career.

This season has seen a more controlled matured Dwyane Wade which has led to less shots in the offense but a Career high in Field Goal percentage at 51%.  At 31 years old Wade remains one of the NBA’s premier shooting guards and as the Heat enter the 2013 playoffs look for him to turn his game up. There is is still plenty left in the tank and as the Heat Look to repeat Wade looks to remind people that he isn’t “too old” or “Too slow”. He is still one of the NBA’s premier perimeter defenders on one of the top Defensive teams the league has to offer . While Lebron James will be the focal point of the Miami offense look for Wade to have nights that remind people that while he is the #2 option he can carry a team and dominate both ends of the floor.

The 1^st round of the NBA Playoffs start April 20^th and the Heat will match up with the 8^th seeded Milwaukee Bucks.

Keep It Money Orientated

On the internet they’re are a plethora of well written, insightful publications but some need to know what lane they are in and stick to it. Before I get into what I want to say let me first acknowledge that I like Forbes magazine and that they give people around the globe great info on celebrity networth’s and are always putting together solid content, I’m a fan of Forbes. On the Flipside Forbes need to stay in their lane. They just released a countdown featuring the top 10 most overpaid players in the NBA Using Career stats vs per year Salary coupled with advanced metrics. Now I Must say the list was pretty accurate but there was one particular player That has no business being on there and I’m talking about Future Hall of Fame seven footer Dirk Nowitzki.

Dirk’s Numbers might be dipping down but Lets look at the facts, He took he Dallas Mavericks to Unparalleled Heights that they never reached before his arrival. He made them Contenders, He filled seats in Dallas, He made the Franchise value increase he deserves every last cent for turning what was once a mediocre franchise and turning them into a marquee team.

In the Forbes article they expressed the following ”An obvious Hall of Famer, and yes, he was hurt earlier this season. But Nowitzki’s numbers have dipped for a couple of years now as he pushes age 35. The stats say he’s worth about $13 million at this point of his career”. Obviously he isn’t playing at a top 5 player in the NBA Level currently but think about it this season he’s averaged the least amount of minutes per game (31.3) since his rookie season when he played 20.4 minutes per game. Less minutes means less touches which means a less then impressive scoring line.

They had him as #6 on the list, now I want you to think to yourselves how many Titles combined have these players won. Carmelo Anthony, Hedo Turkoglu, Ben Gordon, Joe Johnson. None of those dudes have a ring but Dirk is more overpaid then them? That makes no sense at all

Again Lets look a facts. The Mavericks since Dirk arrived have done the following.

·        Made the Playoffs 12 times (6 before Dirk)

·        Won a Championship

·        Had 11 straight 50+ win seasons

·        Averaged 20,000+ fans 6 seasons straight

·        Became relevant year in and year out

Dirk has also became familiar with elite company becoming part of the 20,000 point club which is something only 38 players in he entire of history of the NBA have accomplished, He is currently in 18^th.  The Mavericks Might not even be an NBA Team if it wasn't Dirk he saved basketball in Dallas.What I’m trying to say is that Forbes Don’t talk about basketball keep it strictly money when talking about any sports, Stay in your lane!!